Bears upgrade defensive and offensive lines in this 2023 NFL Mock Draft

The Chicago Bears are two NFL Sundays away from finishing the 2022 season with the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. They’ll need to lose both games and end the year at 3-14, which is a brutally bad season but one that will gift GM Ryan Poles with the best non-quarterback prospect in the 2023 draft class.

Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. and Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter are at the top of Bears fans’ wish lists, and for good reason. Both prospects would fill massive holes in Chicago’s defense. Anderson is an elite pass rusher, and the Bears are last in the NFL in sacks this year. Carter is one of the most talented interior defensive linemen to enter the league since Aaron Donald. He’d fill the three-technique role that is the most important in coach Matt Eberflus’ defense.

If Chicago does end up with the second overall pick, Poles will be in a dream position for NFL general managers. He can’t mess up. Whether he chooses Anderson or Carter, both picks will be viewed as “the right one.” There’s no doubt he’d receive unanimous high marks on post-draft report cards.

The 2023 NFL Draft gets trickier from there. The Bears don’t have their second-round pick (they traded it to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Chase Claypool). Instead, their second pick comes later in Round 2, they hold the Baltimore Ravens’ selection because of the Roquan Smith swap.

The good folks at Pro Football Network conducted a full 2023 NFL mock draft this week, and the first few picks were noteworthy. If Poles ends up with a draft class like this, it’d be fair to say he’ll hit a home run.

Round 1, Pick 2: Jalen Carter, DL, Georgia

“Santa’s real gift is the Bears trading down and acquiring more draft ammunition, but maybe that will come in April,” PFN wrote. “For now, Chicago fans should be happy with the selection of Jalen Carter. Trades have decimated the defensive line over the last couple of years, and now it’s time to reconstruct it.”

Carter’s presence in the middle of the Bears’ defensive line would conjure memories of Tommie Harris, who Chicago selected in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Harris was arguably the best three-tech defensive lineman the Bears fielded during the Lovie Smith era, and his impact was, at times, incredible.

Harris was a top-tier prospect in 2004. Carter is on another level. He’s the type of player who will make everyone around him better, it’s that kind of ripple-effect talent the Bears need to hit on in the first round.

Round 2, Pick 56: Dawand Jones, OT, Ohio State

“Paris Johnson is the prized jewel of Ohio State’s offensive line, but Dawand Jones is no slouch,” PFN wrote. “Despite some technical issues and a lack of flexibility, Jones buoys his scouting report with immense power and size.”

The Bears seem like they found their left tackle in the 2022 NFL Draft with fifth-round pick Braxton Jones. He doesn’t get enough credit for being one of the best picks from last year’s draft, and if the Bears hit on a long-term left tackle with a day-three pick, adding a potential right tackle in the second round this year would be an incredible step forward in solidifying Justin Fields’ pass protectors.

Round 3, Pick 65: Derick Hall, Edge, Auburn

“Derick Hall is one of the most powerful EDGEs in the class, setting the edge and rushing the passer with the same ferocity,” PFN wrote. “With few holes in his game, Hall enters the NFL as a high-floor, high-ceiling prospect.”

Hall can be one of the big risers during the 2023 draft process. He’ll kick things off at the 2023 Senior Bowl in January and should have an impressive NFL Combine showing. A productive pass-rusher off the edge, Hall is a nice consolation prize if the Bears decide to pass on Will Anderson in the first round. The combination of Carter and Hall is more promising than pairing Anderson with any of the three-techniques that’ll be available in this range of the draft.